The BBC website has reported on the threat to archaeological jobs in the west of England.

Elizabethan ‘Superguns’

If you missed last weekend’s Timewatch programme about the Elizabethan gun found at Alderney, then it should be available on the i-Player.

Royal Navy Launches centenary of naval aviation

This year is the centenary year of naval aviation. Various events are planned to commemorate the Admiralty’s decision on 7 May 1909 to order their first airship, HMS Airship I.

Danton discovery

The Danton, a French battleship sunk in 1917 in over 1000m in the Mediterranean has been found in remarkable condition. The discovery was made by the survey company Fugro during a pre-lay survey of the route of a proposed gas pipeline between Algeria and Italy.

It is understood that Odyssey Marine Exploration is holding a press conference today in which it will claim to have found the fourth HMS Victory, lost in 1737 in the English Channel. However the story has already been broken in the Telegraph and the Guardian. Odyssey is understood to believe that the vessel was carrying a valuable cargo. Bronze guns are reported to have already been recovered from the site.

Disability and maritime archaeology

The University of Reading has been commissioned by English Heritage to carry out a project looking at disability within the archaeological profession. They will work in close consultation with the Institute for Archaeologists (IfA) as a major stakeholder. The brief is to produce good practice guidelines for the employment of disabled archaeologists in the profession. The project is therefore currently looking for ‘participants’ who have experience of disability within archaeology.

Maritime archaeology presents particular challenges with regard to disability. If you wish to participate in the project, follow this link.

Lend-Lease salvage claim

A US company, Sub Sea Research, is reported by the Telegraph and ABC News to be claiming to have found the wreck of a Glasgow steamer torpedoed in 1942 off Guyana. They claim that the steamer was transporting a cargo of gold, platinum, diamonds and other jewels to the USA as part of the wartime Lend-Lease agreement and that the cargo is now worth £2.6 billion. The company is reported to have filed a claim in the US courts and is currently mobilising a salvage vessel.

Underwater looting in Greece

The relaxation of the restrictions on coastal scuba diving in Greece is reported to have resulted in the widespread looting of archaeological sites.

EPPIC placements in 2009-10

Wessex Archaeology’s coastal and marine section is hosting two one year placements starting in 2009. The placements will be administered by the IfA and funded by English Heritage. One placement will be for an archaeologist, the other for a geophysicist. See Wessex’s ‘Splash’ web site and the IfA for details.